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In the beginning◦ of the kingdom of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah◦ king of Judah was this word to▵ Jeremiah from◦ Jehovah, saying,
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Thus says Jehovah to▵ me; Make thee bonds and braces, and put◦ them on thy neck,
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and send them to▵ the king of Edom, and to▵ the king of Moab, and to▵ the king of the sons of Ammon, and to▵ the king of Tyre, and to▵ the king of Zidon, by the hand of the messengers which come··into Jerusalem, to▵ Zedekiah◦ king of Judah;
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and command them to say unto▵ their lords, Thus says Jehovah of Armies, the God of Israel: Thus shall you say to▵ your lords:
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I▵ have made the earth, the man and the beast that are on the faces of the earth, by My great power and by My outstretched arm, and have given her unto whom it was··upright in My eyes.
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And now have I▵ given all these lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar* the king of Babylon, My servant; and the animals of the field have I given him also to serve him.
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And all nations shall serve him, and his son, and his son’s son, until the very time of his land come; then many nations and great kings shall make· him ·serve, even him◦.
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And it shall be, that the nation and the kingdom which will not serve him, Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, and that will not put◦ their neck in the yoke of the king of Babylon, upon that◦ nation will I visit, with the sword, and with the famine, and with the pestilence, says◦ Jehovah, until I have entirely consumed them by his hand.
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And you◦, hearken not to▵ your prophets, and to▵ your diviners, and to▵ your dreams, and to▵ your wizards, and to▵ your sorcerers, who say to▵ you, saying, You shall not serve the king of Babylon;
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for they◦ prophesy falsity unto you, so··that you will be··far from your ground, and that I should cast· you ·out◦, and you should perish.
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But the nation that brings his neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, and serves him, I will let· him ·stay on his own ground, says◦ Jehovah; and he shall till it, and dwell in it.
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And I spoke to▵ Zedekiah king of Judah according··to all these words, saying, Bring your necks under the yoke of the king of Babylon, and serve him and his people, and live.
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Why will· you ·die, thou◦ and thy people, by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence, as◦ Jehovah has spoken against▵ the nation that will not serve the king of Babylon?
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And you shall not hearken to▵ the words of the prophets who say to▵ you, saying, You shall not serve the king of Babylon; for they◦ prophesy falsely to you.
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For I have not sent them, says◦ Jehovah, and they◦ prophesy falsely in My name, so··that I might expel you, and you might perish, you◦, and the prophets prophesying to you.
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And I spoke to▵ the priests and to▵ all this people, saying, Thus says Jehovah: Hearken not to▵ the words of your prophets who prophesy to you, saying, Behold, the vessels of the house of Jehovah shall now hastily be returned from Babylon; for they◦ prophesy falsely to you.
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Hearken not unto▵ them; serve the king of Babylon, and live; why should this city be laid waste?
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But if they◦ be prophets, and if the word of Jehovah be◦ with◦ them, let them now◦ make··intercession with Jehovah of Armies, that the vessels which remain in the house of Jehovah, and in the house of the king of Judah, and at Jerusalem, may not▵ go··in to Babylon.
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For thus says Jehovah of Armies concerning the pillars, and concerning the sea, and concerning the bases, and concerning the remnant of the vessels that remain in this city,
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which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon took not, when he exiled Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah from Jerusalem into Babylon, and all the nobles of Judah and Jerusalem;
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for thus says Jehovah of Armies, the God of Israel, concerning the vessels that remain in the house of Jehovah, and in the house of the king of Judah and of Jerusalem;
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they shall be brought to▫ Babylon, and there shall they be until the day that I visit them, says◦ Jehovah; then will I bring· them ·up, and return them to▵ this place.
